…addition is the exercise of fools…subtraction is the exercise of genius…think of the greatest of sculptors…think of their brilliant sculptures…know that each one of them started with a gorgeous piece of stone or rock or whatever material it is that they used to sculpt…then little by little, they removed (subtracted) from that material what wasn’t going to be a part of their beautiful sculpture until the most amazing of sculptures emerged from the subtractive exercise…proactive subtraction…

It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.